At press time, the father of cryptocurrencies has incurred a $200 rise and is now trading for roughly $6,300. This marks some good news for investors and traders, who up to this point, have probably lost some serious cash after bitcoin fell by over $1,500 in just the last two weeks.

In early June, the currency was trading for roughly $7,600, where it hovered for some time. Unfortunately, while many traders were waiting for $8,000 next, bitcoin had other plans, and decided to take a little trip down south – all the way to $6,100, where it has been trading at for the last 72 hours.

According to Fortune Magazine, the bitcoin hype has come to a screeching halt thanks to new reports that the price was subject to mass manipulation through trading schemes that involved tying bitcoin to Tether. This ultimately hurt investor trust, and caused many to wonder if they were involved in the right playing field. From there, Japan’s Financial Services Agency (FSA) has placed restrictions on as many as six separate cryptocurrency trading platforms, and requested that they boost their security protocols after noticing weaknesses in their infrastructures.

However, it appears other problems have come about in the forms of phony initial coin offerings (ICOs) and scams, along with imposing regulation from organizations like the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). In addition, several new altcoins and digital assets have entered the frame over the last 12 months to ultimately take focus and attention away from bitcoin, thereby preventing it from recovering appropriately.

According to e-Toro analyst Matthew Newton, however, the price drops witnessed amongst most major forms of crypto (including bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin) are to be expected through such a “nascent market.”

“The reality is that emerging technologies carrying radically new ideas will always see swings in their value,” he explained in a recent interview. “Market adjustments, as we have seen over the past months, can help to stabilize prices and move the industry towards a more robust, sophisticated regime. This is good for the long-term future of blockchain and [cryptocurrencies], giving the industry time to develop.”

At press time, bitcoin is up by almost 150 percent since this time last year, and it is more than ten times more valuable than where it stood in June of 2016. This is something to be positive about, though it is difficult when one considers where bitcoin was last December, and that near $20,000 price will always be in the back of investors’ heads.

When will bitcoin hit this position again? How long will it take? Why is so much time needed to recover? These are probably only a fraction of the questions running through traders’ minds, and considering we’re on the verge of entering July – meaning we’ll soon be in the second half of 2018 – the many predictions running rampant about bitcoin’s end-of-the-year prices are a little difficult to swallow, but as we’ve seen in the past, bitcoin’s price can drop or fall at a moment’s notice. Thus, $25,000 – $60,000 may be easier to fathom in that context.

Leading U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is under heavy criticism by its users for being underprepared to handle increasing demand.

Coinbase Not Ready For Its Own Success

The criticism was documented by a five-month Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process, which comprised a total of 134 pages of complaints filed by users of the exchange with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Mashableobtained the complaints received by the SEC and the California Department of Business Oversight filed by users of the leading U.S. cryptocurrency exchange. Widespread frustration with the platform is evident as customer service fails across the board.

However, this is not the first time Coinbase is under the public’s crosshair. In December, traders accused Coinbase of “insider trading” following events of the failed Bitcoin Cash (BCH) launch on GDAX. In March, the exchange was also hit with a class-action lawsuit for both violating California’s Unclaimed Property Law and conducting unlawful and unfair business practices.

Instead of painting the picture of a leader in the cryptocurrency exchange industry, the documents reveal Coinbase as a company that is unable to handle its own success.

A recurring theme in most of the complaints is the notable difficulty for people accessing their funds due to various problems. Some have been locked out of their accounts while others faced major roadblocks when trying to transfer funds between different wallets.

Furthermore, to say customer service is slow to respond is an understatement according to user complaints. People are reportedly frustrated with their funds being lost along the way as Coinbase support teams fail to react or provide reasonable explanations. One of the complaints is particularly alarming:

I have sent 17,023.00 from my Coinbase account to another Coinbase account on 12.21.2017. The other Coinbase account never received the funds as of 1/16/2018. I have contacted Coinbase over 7 times and all they say is that they have so many issues, they will get back to me and it is been a month.

The same customer shared his concern that he’s lost $5,000 USD as a result of this event and made allegations that “the company is holding my funds to make money on top of my investment.”

Reading the complaints reveals a troubling pattern of customers who claim losing thousands of dollars because of the alleged mismanagement of the cryptocurrency exchange.

Questionable Explanations

Coinbase spokesperson attributed the existing issues to the booming demand and rapid growth.

“In 2017, the cryptocurrency space experienced a profound uptick in mainstream awareness and growth,” explained the spokesperson.” As part of that, consumer demand for our services increased by 40x and we experienced transaction volumes in November and December of that year that grew by 295 percent.”

The spokesperson added that the company improved its customer service substantially by increasing the support team by more than 150 percent and reducing the average time to first response to below ten hours for more than 95 percent of the incoming queries.

While it sounds like a major improvement, it’s clear that Coinbase has quite a lot of work to do in order to regain the goodwill and the trust of its users.

Yet, the company doesn’t seem particularly phased as it proclaimed itself to be a “self-sustaining $8 billion dollar company” back in May. What’s more, it recently announced plans to become a fully SEC-regulated broker-dealer after having acquired a financial services company.

Huobi, the world’s fourth largest crypto exchange by daily trade volumes, has appointed a CEO for its newly created “strategic partner” trading platform in the U.S., according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph June 25.

Frank Fu has been chosen as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Huobi’s new U.S.-based digital assets marketplace, which was established via a San Francisco-headquartered company called HBUS earlier this month.

Prior to joining HBUS, Fu worked at Meitu, Inc., a Chinese tech company specialising in mobile video and photography. At Meitu, he held several executive positions, including managing director of Meitu Global and international investment, leading a team whose work reportedly generated “a combined growth of 500 million new mobile subscribers globally.”

Fu has also notably founded several blockchain mobile consumer apps and digital media startups in the US and Asia, according to the press release.

Fu will be speaking at the Blockchain Connect Conference in San Jose tomorrow, June 26, delivering a keynote presentation on the ‘Global Blockchain Industry and Prospects’.

Huobi, which is headquartered in Singapore, has been actively pursuing its overseas expansion this year. Alongside its HBUS U.S. venture, the exchange launched a South Korean subsidiary this spring, as well as revealing plans to open an office in London.

Last week, Cointelegraph reported on Bloomberg Terminal’s decision to list Huobi’s recently-launched Cryptocurrency Index, dubbed ‘Huobi 10,’ which tracks the performance of the top 10 traded digital assets on its trading platform.

According to data from CoinMarketCap, Huobi is currently seeing about $852 million in trades over the 24-hour period. It is now ranked fourth largest crypto exchange globally, ceding its formerly held third place to CoinBene.

Pharmaceuticals giant Merck is seeking a patent for a way to use blockchain in order to track goods as they move through the supply chain.

Published last Thursday and submitted in December 2016, the patent application outlines a method by which a blockchain could be used to store information about a physical object – in this case, a single product – and receives updates as it moves onward from its point of origin. That distributed network could then be used to store information verifying the authenticity of the item.

In other words, the main point here is anti-counterfeiting. Merck already maintains internal processes for eliminating fake goods that move through its systems, and the proposed patent seems as if it would fit into those wider efforts.

Merck notes in its filing that the technology "enables a secure, reliable storage of the reading results with very high data integrity, such that it is essentially impossible to manipulate or erase or otherwise taper [sic] with or lose such data, e.g. due to unintended or deliberate deletion or due to data corruption."

The pharmaceuritcals firm goes on to explain:

"Furthermore, the stored information can be accessed wherever access to the blockchain is available. This allows for a safe and distributed storage and access to the stored reading results, e.g. for integrity verification purposes such as checking whether a supplier of a product being marked with a composite security marking, as described herein, was in fact the originator of the product, or not."

Whether Merck will move to "put pills on the blockchain" remains to be seen, but the company has pursued a number of initiatives to date within the technology space.

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

Spain's securities markets watchdog and a group of financial institutions including Banco Santander have completed a blockchain pilot aimed at testing the tech for registering stock warrant issuances.

The year-long Fast Track Listing (FTL) project saw participation from the Spanish National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) as well as banks such as Banco Santander, BBVA, BNP Paribas, CaixaBank, Commerzbank and Société Générale.

The idea is that shared databases can be used to more effectively register information about the issuance of warrants – contracts bearing the right to purchase new shares at a certain price before they expire – and filter that data to all parties. According to Banco Santander, the pilot showed that the time to register a warrant issuance was cut by more than 70 percent using the pilot platform.

Initial results from the test were promising, the group indicated, setting the stage for further proofs-of-concept around the technology.

"After obtaining such good results, CNMV has decided to continue exploring the possible uses of this technology in its processes and carry on with the project. BME and all the national warrant issuers (BBVA, Caixabank and Banco Santander), as well as international warrant issuers (BNP Paribas, Commerzbank and Société Générale), are also actively contributing to this project," according to statements.

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

This is a paid press release, which contains forward looking statements, and should be treated as advertising or promotional material. Bitcoin.com does not endorse nor support this product/service. Bitcoin.com is not responsible for or liable for any content, accuracy or quality within the press release.

It is no secret that the recent volatility in the market has been extreme with Bitcoin and Ethereum prices in freefall. Market participants are suffering losses but also given the opportunity to invest at lower prices to gain if the market pulls up.

Cryptocurrency investor Brian Kelly, states on CCN “Referring back to the basic rule of investing, Kelly noted that during a period in which the market is extremely bullish and optimistic, it is better to sell and eye a timely opportunity to enter and when the market is overly pessimistic, it is wise to look for a position to enter.”

Bitcoin originally was supposed to offer an efficient means of transferring money over the internet and is controlled by a decentralized network with a transparent set of rules, thus presenting an alternative to central bank controlled fiat money. Market participants changed from geeks and believers in Blockchain to funds and investors looking to make profit with the uptrend volatile market. This led people to ignore the primary function of Bitcoin which was to efficiently transfer money over the internet with no control from central banks.

This is affecting the whole markets including the new ICOs and tokens. New ICOs and tokens are simply being invested in to sell once listed and gain whatever discount rate the ICO is offering. Most of the time these tokens are tied to the price volatility and movement of Bitcoin and Ethereum. INGOT Coin has been studying the market carefully in order to develop in ways that separated from Bitcoin and Ethereum as well as their price volatility

INGOT Coin intends to foster building an interconnected global community of trust and cooperation on which the basis of honesty and transparency between its members exist. INGOT is well on its way in making a breakthrough in Crypto & financial markets by presenting a revolutionary gateway towards an all-inclusive environment. The vision and aim of INGOT is to provide the community with real Utility value whether Bitcoin was at a new low or high. To achieve that aim INGOT has partnered with multiple ICOs in order to provide numerous Utilities with an access from one platform. INGOT also does not base their coin on Ethereum or Bitcoin but rather on USD value.

The ICOs are all in different industries from Health to Financial services and E-commerce to Real Estate. INGOT Coin, GMEX-Group, BolttCoin, Modern Finance Chain (MFChain), SwachhCoin, Black.Insure, PlaceToRent (PTRT), Bineuro and Stella have all formed a unified front under one alliance. The group of ICOs along with GMEX plan to establish a single platform that will allow all their communities to use their utilities simultaneously. Furthermore, plans of enabling different discounts among each one of the ICOs is being discussed in order to give edge to all participants.

Providing all those different Utilities through one gateway will provide true value to the tokens and the end users. In giving real utility to different tokens and access from one point it is clear that the latter will be the value of the tokens and not the price and volatility of Bitcoin and Ethereum.

This is a paid press release. Readers should do their own due diligence before taking any actions related to the promoted company or any of its affiliates or services. Bitcoin.com is not responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in the press release.

When cryptos became widely popular, central banks were seriously considering issuing their own digital currencies. However, the interest has slowly waned as central banks begin to seriously consider the implications such currencies would have on financial stability. This is according to an alternate member of the Swiss National Bank’s governing body, Thomas Moser. In his view, it has now become a waiting game in which everyone is waiting for someone else to make the first move. While issuing digital currencies has some advantages for central banks, they pose huge risks which outweigh the benefits. In the long term, central banks will probably issue digital currencies, but for now, it’s unlikely that any central bank will take the risk, Moser stated.

Too Many Rough Edges

Initially, there was a lot of interest in cryptos as everyone considered the implications they would have on the traditional financial system. Hailed as the long-awaited solution to the challenges that had ailed the sector for decades, cryptos were being researched by most central banks as they sought to be on the front line in the application of digital currencies. However, this interest is slowly waning as regulators consider the implications such moves would have on financial stability. Speaking to Business Insider during the Crypto Valley Conference held in the Swiss crypto town of Zug, Moser explained:

The whole technical issue, which excited everyone, really takes second place to this conceptual policy issue. The mood now is: everyone is monitoring it, some are experimenting with it, heavily, but I think everyone is waiting for someone else to do it first so we can.

Digital currencies are effective when the prices rise as people’s holdings multiply. The challenge arises when the value declines and people’s holdings begin to shrink, he said. This therefore calls for well-thought-out monetary policies. The process is altogether very complicated, he explained.

You basically compete with bank accounts when you issue digital central bank money. You have to think through how you would do monetary policy, how the transmission channel is changing; it’s just very complicated.

Nevertheless, Moser still believes that in the long term, central banks will issue their own digital currencies even though the potential risks are quite significant. The Swiss national bank is, however, neutral on the subject in the meantime as it monitors and awaits more research and development in the industry.

Central bank digital currencies have attracted interest from many countries seeking to take advantage of digital currencies to power the traditional financial system. The Central Bank of the Bahamas is the latest to warm up to digital currencies, with the country’s finance minister saying that they are the way forward in this era of governance. In his speech at the Bahamas Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference, the minister said that CBDCs are especially crucial to Bahamians as the island has seen many commercial banks downsize and close up shop, leaving many residents without access to banking services. CBDCs are especially advantageous as they give the government the ability to offer banking services digitally, a service it has been working to provide its citizens as transportation to major towns to access banking services is an inconvenience for many.

Stablecoin Tether (USDT), which is allegedly backed 1:1 by the US dollar, has issued 250 million more tokens today, June 25, according to data from Omni Explorer.

At the end of March, Tether had released 300 million tokens, leading to a small price increase for Bitcoin (BTC). The move also was met with backlash from critics on Twitter about the controversy surrounding the stablecoin’s lack of an official public audit to confirm the legitimacy of its claims to be backed by fiat.

More recently, Tether had made the news when a new study compiled by the University of Texas suggested that the coin had been behind Bitcoin price manipulation in 2017, a claim that Tether’s CEO has denied.

Litecoin (LTC) founder Charlie Lee tweeted today that the 250 million USDT issuance can be compared to said sum in dollars being deposited to a cryptocurrency exchange – meaning that it does not necessarily preclude an immediate price jump that would occur when it is used to buy crypto:

Generally, this has been a precursor of price going up. Tether gets printed when people deposit USD and get USDT back. This USDT will then be used to buy crypto. This is similar to someone depositing $250MM to exchanges. Of course, that doesn't mean they will buy right away. DYOR https://t.co/zg2PEjGohv

Following such places as Quebec and New York, the latest location in North America to attract large Bitcoin mining operations with a cheap supply of electricity is Colorado Springs. A miner has paid $13 million to convert an abandoned Intel chip manufacturing complex into an industrial mining farm.

New 85,000 Square Feet Mining Operation

3G Venture II, a California-based company, has paid $13 million for a big chuck of an abandoned Intel chip manufacturing complex at Garden of the Gods Road in Colorado. The owner of the company, John Chen from Los Angeles, reportedly plans to use the facility to mine bitcoin. The deal includes 30 acres and over 700,000 square feet in several buildings, with bitcoin mining planned for three buildings, totaling about 85,000 square feet, and the rest planned to be leased to others.

Michael Palmer, a broker with Quantum Commercial Group who marketed the real estate, revealed that the electricity network installed for Intel’s needs was especially alluring for the miner. The complex includes an on-site substation, two separate power feeds, and the new owner also asked Colorado Springs Utilities to increase capacity to the site, he said. Besides that, the location’s cheap energy prices have long attracted companies to enter the area, including for establishing data centers by Progressive Insurance, FedEx and Walmart, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette.

One Mining Farm Is Enough?

Earlier this month we reported about a town in New York that welcomed a new giant mining facility at a former aluminum smelting plant. The main reason for that was the promise of over 150 jobs that were estimated to be added to the local economy as a result of the opening of the facility. However, it appears that there is less enthusiasm about the new industry in Colorado Springs as they don’t expect it to create many jobs.

Dirk Draper, president and CEO of the Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce & EDC, said the group didn’t seek out the miner, and instead just cooperated with him after he showed interest in the Intel complex. Moreover, the Chamber & EDC doesn’t plan to attract more such companies, he said. “While it is beneficial for some segments of the community to have the large base power users, and we understand that and are supportive of it, our focus is more on the employment side,” Draper explained.

Can bitcoin mining bring back manufacturing jobs to the US? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

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The blockchain industry has been attracting the best minds from some of the most renowned institutions in the world. Whether to launch their own startups or join the boards of existing ones, these high-ranking executives have left their lucrative posts with the firm conviction that blockchain technology is the future. Two former GoDaddy executives are just the latest to make the switch to launch Celo, a blockchain-based platform for fast, secure and cost-effective mobile payments. Celo promises to make mobile, blockchain-powered payments as easy as sending texts. The startup has received the backing of some of the most renowned venture capital firms and individuals including the CEO of Twitter and Square, Jack Dorsey.

Fighting the Monopolization of the Internet

Like many other blockchain enthusiasts, the founders of Celo are led by a burning desire to fight for the little man. In an age where giant tech and internet companies have taken over and control the market unchecked, blockchain is looked at by many as the best avenue to fight this monopolization. And according to the two, Marek Olszewski and Rene Reinsberg, Celo will do just that.

To serve its users, Celo will use a distributed ledger to link phone numbers to public encryption keys. This is the easy part, however, as the biggest challenge facing crypto payments is the high volatility of most crypto assets which makes many merchants hesitant to use them. For this, Celo will develop a stablecoin whose value will be attached to a non-volatile asset such as the U.S dollar. Stablecoins are looked at as a solution to the volatility that has become a defining characteristic of this industry. Tether is the most renowned and highest-valued stablecoin, but the Celo team says it will develop its own stablecoin. This will make it possible for users to make and receive payments without the fear that the sum sent will be significantly different from the sum received.

Touting itself as a social payment platform, Celo targets the emerging markets in which financial products are not especially widespread. This is why the platform will first be rolled out on Android phones, which are more popular in emerging markets, Olszewski said in a statement. Celo will also give its users the opportunity to earn cryptos on any Android phone. While most cryptos require sophisticated and expensive equipment to mine, Celo will reward its users with cryptos for powering its phone verification service using their excess phone capacity.

The Celo team believes that the approach it has taken is the best for its target market, with Reinsberg saying that it’s shock-resistant and that the results have been impressive so far. However, the approach is not without its risks, he admits, with a black swan event being among the possible challenges. A black swan event is an occurrence that’s completely unforeseen and is beyond what is expected of a situation. The team is prepared for this and has a number of countermeasures in place, Reinsberg stated.

Celo is backed by some renowned figures, one of whom is the founder of LinkedIn, Reid Hoffman. Jack Dorsey, the co-founder and CEO of both Twitter and Square, is also among the backers, as are Dick Parsons and Andrew Kortina, the former Citigroup chairman and Venmo co-founder, respectively. Institutional backers include Andreessen Horowitz, Coinbase, and PolyChain Capital.

The mainstream media narrative that Bitcoin is a “ponzi scheme” and bagholders are selling is false, new data showing Bitcoin user ‘hodl’ behavior claims.

Whales Are ‘Hodling’

The findings, uploaded to Twitter by commentator and researcher BambouClub June 25, focuses on so-called ‘Bitcoin days destroyed’ (BDD) as a variable by which to judge investor sentiment, which he explains is “totally unaffected” by bitcoin price 00.

In line with other recent research pieces, BDD trends from Bitcoin’s creation in 2009 to the present day demonstrate that more Bitcoin holders are storing, rather than trading or selling, their bitcoins.

The trend runs contrary to opinions in many mainstream news media pieces, which claim Bitcoin is a “bubble” or has had its halcyon age and will now only disappoint – or even defraud – investors.

“…BDD fell sharply in Jan ’18 and has fallen throughout 2018. This does NOT fit the narrative that whales are cutting and running for the exit, selling to noobs. Whales are in fact HODLING,” BambouClub summarized.

The media narrative in recent months is that Bitcoin is a ponzi that will inevitably collapse and that Bitcoin whales are heading for the exit and have been selling to 'greater fools' . 1/ pic.twitter.com/1aSE6zC4th

The hacking of South Korea’s largest exchange Bithumb last week added to the pressure, with various publications choosing specifically to highlight the episode as an implication of the risks involved in purchasing cryptocurrency.

On the topic of Bitcoin price behavior, BambouClub denied market manipulation, this returning as a topic of debate last week after markets fell despite Mt. Gox trustees confirming no more mass sell-offs of Bitcoin would occur. These had previously appeared to drive prices downwards.

This is a paid-for submitted press release. CCN does not endorse, nor is responsible for any material included below and isn’t responsible for any damages or losses connected with any products or services mentioned in the press release. CCN urges readers to conduct their own research with due diligence into the company, product or service mentioned in the press release.

Fledgling digital currency $PAC attracts top Silicon Valley talent as they soar to top 275 as shown on CoinMarketCap.

London, UK– June 19th2018, $PAC announced recently that Joel Lunenfeld, previously Vice President of Global Brand Strategy at Twitter is the first of the most recent appointments on the advisory board for the project. Also joining the team is Chris Gomersall, former Creative Strategy lead for Facebook. This once fledgling project which, no less than 7 months ago was ranked at the very bottom of CoinMarketCap’s list of digital assets, soars to a top 260 ranking amidst the most recent news against the downtrend in the global market.

Joel Lunenfeld

Aside from his years of experience in building the advertising business and consumer global brand strategy for Twitter, Mr. Lunenfeld was also the CEO at Moxie, a top digital agency. Currently, he is occupied as an advisor to a handful or early to late stage startups as well as the co-founder of The Guardian Project, a non-profit martial arts academy and community center, focused on changing the lives of at-risk youth through training, education, and mentorship. Joel has amazing potential to contribute on a high level to the $PAC operations team, leveraging his years of experience to form new partnerships, foster adoption for the currency and improve its social outreach.

Joel Lunenfeld was recently quoted as saying, “The power of PAC is the community-driven purpose. A network effect can drive governance, ideation, and co-creation from our community. We are excited to see the many uses and applications of $PAC our users create.” Developing a social media platform (PAClyfe, one of the main roadmap objectives for $PAC) is quite a comprehensive operation. Platforms such as Discord and Facebook, who have existed for at least a decade could prove hard to compete against and catch up with. In this light, individuals such as Joel Lunenfeld and Chris Gomersall who have years of first-hand experience in the field will prove to be of great value to $PAC.

Chris Gomersall

Chris Gomersall, Ex Creative Strategy Lead at Facebook and Instagram, and former marketing agency executive, provides the necessary experience to bring products to market and to problem solve the issue of mainstream adoption faced by many cryptocurrencies in the space. Chris is also the founder and CEO of ATOMIZED, which focuses on building software solutions to solve marketing and advertising pain points for a vast array of corporate clients. ATOMIZED is a marketing technology suited for brands and agencies which could make for a very promising future partnership with $PAC since they accept crypto as a means of denomination, their outreach into the digital sphere would spearhead $PAC as a premium medium of exchange within the digital space amongst the heavy hitters of the digital world.

$PAC’s value proposition is strengthening every day, $PAC is quickly overtaking other projects in the space that have been around for far longer and this bodes well for future adoption. $PAC is uniquely positioned to become ‘the penny to Dash’s dollar’ not only as a convenient medium of exchange, but with a charitable and humanitarian focus shown by their involvement with numerous non-profit organizations over the last few months. It’s clear that from the most recent appointments and the potential partnerships and connections available. This project is certainly gearing up for a significant move within the cryptocurrency space.

To learn more about the $PACcoin or to read their Whitepaper, visit their official website athttp://www.paccoin.net.

Eight major European financial entities have announced they will work together on a blockchain tech project for recording the issuance of financial warrants, Spanish news outlet el Economista reports today, June 25.

Spanish securities regulator the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), along with major stock market operator BME, and banks Santander, BBVA, BNP Paribas, CaixaBank, Commerzbank and Société Générale have “successfully” completed a Proof-of-Concept, which they call Fast Track Listing. The system was created to register the issuance of warrants in under 48 hours, a process that usually takes more than a week, according to their statement also released today.

Warrants are defined as derivatives that give the right to sell a security at a certain price before the expiry date.

The CNMV notes that it will continue to research blockchain tech uses for both national and international warrant issuers.

While banks worldwide are exploring blockchain, not all banks are ready to accept the technology. Last week, the CEO of BBVA had said that blockchain technology was “immature” and faces major challenges. However, some banks have actively embraced the technology already –– in April Santander launched its Ripple (XRP)-powered payment network for retail customers.

This is a paid-for submitted press release. CCN does not endorse, nor is responsible for any material included below and isn’t responsible for any damages or losses connected with any products or services mentioned in the press release. CCN urges readers to conduct their own research with due diligence into the company, product or service mentioned in the press release.

Gibraltar, June 25 2018–Mobilum, the payment processing platform which enables real-time cryptocurrency payments at point of sale – has announced a new partnership with peer-to-peer crowdfunding platform,EthicHub. The new partnership will allow both Mobilum and EthicHub users to benefit from a mutual sharing of investment opportunities on its respective platforms.

EthicHub is a social network that directly connects investors who are looking for socially impactive projects to fund. By investing in small projects involving farmers in less economically developed countries, EthicHub’s solution aims to democratise the world of finance. The crowdlending platform aims to achieve this by making these investment opportunities available to its users, whilst giving the farmers the money they need to develop their business further.

Mobilum will display all of the potential investment opportunities that EthicHub has listed on the Mobilum App. This will allow users to be able to see the positive impact projects that EthicHub has listed alongside the funds in their wallet.

“It is great news to announce this partnership with Mobilumn. We’ll increase our user’s friendly experience while providing a seamless solution to connect fiat and cryptocurrencies” Jori Armbruster, Founder and CEO of EthicHub.

Millions of small farmers in developing countries are unable to gain access to traditional financial services, which results in their only option to obtain local cash loans with extremely high interest rates. The EthicHub solution is a perfect alternative for those who can’t afford it. Whilst investing in projects that will truly make a difference to the lives of those who need it, the EthicHub partnership with Mobilum will have mutual benefits.

EthicHub will also be integrating Mobilum’s wallet into its platform, enabling EthicHub users an easier handling of their crypto and fiat currencies. This will be paramount for the unbanked farmers living far from banks. Mobilum’s technology will allow them to have a nominative debit card to receive their loans and to pay them back.

“We are proud to be working with EthicHub by offering these truly unique investment opportunities for our users to fund” Wojtek Kaszycki, Mobilum CEO and Founder said. “The work that EthicHub is doing to ensure that those businesses that less economically developed have a chance to have their businesses grow.”

Mobilum is looking forward to partnering with EthicHub on this new venture and is excited to see how they can impact the lives and industries that these workers are currently in.

About Mobilum

Mobilum is the cryptocurrency technology solution which enables real-time cryptocurrency payments at points of sale using customers existing debit and credit cards, and the issuer of the Mobilum token. The Mobilum token was designed to provide a method that can allow cryptocurrency to be used instantly at retail for seamless integration into everyday transactions and financial services. The Mobilum token will be implemented on the public Ethereum blockchain as an ERC20 token.

EthicHub is a global solutions platform that directly connects investors who are seeking socially impactive projects to fund.By investing in small projects involving farmers in less economically developed countries, EthicHub’s solution aims to democratise the world of finance.This proposal has granted EthicHub theBlockchain4Humanity Awardas Best financial inclusion project at LaBitConf in Bogota, andStartUp with the Greatest social impactatUnconference Fintech Awardsin Madrid.

This is a paid-for submitted press release. CCN does not endorse, nor is responsible for any material included below and isn’t responsible for any damages or losses connected with any products or services mentioned in the press release. CCN urges readers to conduct their own research with due diligence into the company, product or service mentioned in the press release.

Our world now has a huge number of cryptocurrencies and tokens, but they all face the same problems – scalability, rate jumps, duration of transactions and their high cost. At the same time, every second cryptocurrency sets its task to solve these problems – but most of them are still not successful. In this article, we will look at MicroBitcoin and Ethereum Classic and see who has better managed to overcome the existing problems of cryptocurrencies.

What is Ethereum Classic?

The Ethereum Classic cryptocurrency was formed on July 20, 2016, as a result of the split of Ethereum – the second cryptocurrency by capitalization and the platform for the development of decentralized applications. The reason for the split was the DAO attack. In June 2016, The DAO was hacked using the same security flaws outlined in the paper and approximately US$50 million were stolen. As a result, Ethereum underwent a hard fork, copying and modifying the main code to revert the DAO hack. Meanwhile, the main code remained as is, and the community began calling it “Ethereum Classic”. Since then, Ethereum and Ethereum Classic have been operating as separate coins while sharing the same goals and vision: to become the world’s first decentralized computing platform.

Ethereum Classic has recently upgraded its Network Protocol on May 29, 2018, to hybrid Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm. The community has called it the beginning of the Ethereum Ice Age,’ because it would essentially ‘freeze’ block validations.

What is MicroBitcoin?

MicroBitcoinis designed to introduce cryptocurrency into the world of micropayments and make it so that paying in cryptocurrency for a cup of coffee will be profitable and easy. This is achieved through the hybrid Scrypt algorithm PoW/PoS. Its use allows to carry out transactions up to 25 times faster than bitcoin and approximately 8 times faster than Ethereum Classic.

In addition, the supply of the of MicroBitcoin is much lower than of Ethereum Classic – it is only 25.2 million coins. Due to the smaller amount of coins, the value of the cryptocurrency can grow faster and more significantly than in the case of Ethereum Classic. Coin holders will be able to earn approximately 10% of their capital per year by through POS storing the cryptocurrency on their wallets.

Mining of MicroBitcoin also does not require the use of special equipment and is available to everyone.

MicroBitcoin is a green coin as it does not consume energy for verification of transaction comparing to other cryptocurrency using POW as their consensus algorithm.

Though the MBC coin is now available only at one exchange – Aristex – it has great plans for the future to get listed on other exchange and wallet providers, as well hardware wallet.

One of the main tasks of MicroBitcoin is to preserve the anonymity of users. Each person can decide whether he wants to sign the transaction with his name when sending funds. Isn’t that the real crypto-freedom?

So, which project is better?

Ethereum Classic and MicroBitcoin have different goals. The ETC way is more ideological, it is focused on smart contract development. The MicroBitcoin project aims to simplify the payments and allow micropayments possible with affordable transaction fee and faster conformations. It has faster transactions, almost zero commissions, and anonymity.

From a traders’ perspective, both coins can be appealing to profit from. MicroBitcoin cost is much lesser than ETC, with a market price of approximately USD $15 for July. ETC’s price is largely based on speculation, and thus it is vital for any traders or investors to understand the difference between both coins and their utility.

A research group linked to China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) has released its latest evaluation of blockchain networks – with perhaps surprising results.

The China Electronic Information Industry Development (CCID) Blockchain Research Institute – which aims to provide an independent rating system for the blockchain space – has placed the just-launched EOS network in the number one spot, with ethereum and NEO coming second and third, respectively. The release is the second since the index launched in May

Notably, bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, was rated outside the top 10 in 17th place – a drop from 13th in the last list, following a change in the ranking methods.

However, the project sets out to gauge 30 major blockchains based on their technological capabilities and use cases, not aspects related to their financial valuation. According to the index's website, the purpose of the rating is to "evaluate the development level of global public-owned chain technology, accurately grasp the trend of blockchain."

The placement of EOS in the top slot may be seen as somewhat controversial, however, since the project went live as recently as June 14 and almost immediately encountered issues with transactions that forced developers to make a hasty fix.

Just days prior to launch, EOS had also seen serious bugs raised by a Chinese internet security firm that required urgent patches to be issued. The report said that loopholes in EOS' code could expose nodes to attackers, giving them the ability to possibly take "full control" of transactions.

In its assessment, the CCID blockchain research team gave EOS 102 points for fundamental technology, 15.4 for applicability and 44.1 for innovation. Meanwhile, ethereum – a platform noted for its smart contract functionality – scored lower on fundamental technology (85.2), but higher on applicability (24.9).

The team wrote about the number one-placed blockchain:

"Because of its potential to support commercial distributed applications, [EOS] is considered by the industry to be a typical representative of Blockchain 3.0."

Bitcoin was rated as low as 41.6 on the fundamental technology scale but, notably, scored relatively well on innovation (35).

Founded in 1995, CCID is the scientific research institute for the MIIT, responsible for technology research and development, policy-making and software testing for a variety of sectors.

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

The Tezos Foundation has a message for the community: the code belongs to its users.

Revealed in a statement on Monday, the non-profit is now directly pledging to take steps that will find it less involved in operations once the much-anticipated blockchain is launched. It's a move reminiscent of the recent EOS launch, which has had a rocky start after Block.one, the corporate creator of the blockchain, handed over its tech to its community, and one that could signal a trend as more and more ICO projects go live in 2018.

In the statement, the Tezos Foundation states, "Tezos' potential rests in the hands of its community, and we have no doubt that the Tezos community is among the strongest and most exceptional in the cryptocurrency ecosystem."

Speaking exclusively to CoinDesk before the announcement, Ryan Jesperson, the chair of the foundation, went further saying, "The prior board had considered having a veto power for a year after it launches, but the new board has chosen not to have that power."

He continued:

"At the foundation, the way we view our role is to deploy resources to support participants in the community."

It's a statement on the foundation's realignment with users after months of tension between members of the project's team that ended in February. And while the alphanet (where only the team could use and test the system) for the project has been running for about a year, the Tezos team is looking to launch a blockchain that people can use very soon.

The initial goal was to launch a so-called "betanet" of the blockchain by the end of Q2. But with this being the last week of the quarter, that remains to be seen (though Jesperson did elaborate on how the betanet would work).

For instance, the project, which remains one of the largest initial coin offerings in history raising $232 million, will have some oversight initially.

According to Jesperson, when the betanet goes live, users that have completed the recently announced know-your-customer (KYC) process will be able to freely trade the native crypto tokens called tezzies. While the team behind the Tezos project can take the betanet offline at any time for further development or bug fixes, user's transactions will be authentic, meaning that state of the ledger will persist onto the mainnet.

Block producers and bakers

Once Tezos becomes a live blockchain, though, the idea is that it'll be ready to stay up for good and for reliable for entrepreneurs to start using as they explore new ventures.

But with the Tezos development team taking the back seat then, how will decisions be made? In some ways, comparing Tezos to EOS again is helpful here.

Both projects use a delegated proof-of-stake (dPOS) consensus algorithm, which means validation of the blockchain is done by nodes that set aside, or "stake," a certain amount of the protocol's native tokens. Staked tokens aren't lost, but if the node unstakes their tokens to spend, they will lose their position as a validator.

Validators are incentivized for their work, though, as the protocol pays them out in new tokens.

In the case of EOS, the protocol specifically indicates that only 21 validators are needed, and these validators are constantly being swapped in and out based of how other users of the protocol stake their tokens to vote for specific organizations to do the job.

On Tezos, on the other hand, the validator pool is left entirely open. There's no limit to the number of validators, which are called "bakers" on Tezos, that can be working for the network, but there is a high bar for becoming one – 10,000 tokens staked.

Users are all encouraged to stake, but if they don't have 10,000 tokens, they can delegate their tokens to other bakers.

When enough users delegate tokens to a baker's stake, that baker should win more opportunities to validate and both parties should end up earning more tokens.

Also similar to what happened for EOS, some companies have already lined up to take on these baker roles ahead of the Tezos launch. Tezos Rocks is a portal for all sorts of information about the protocol, and it shows five different groups that have announced their intention to serve as bakers, asking other token holders to delegate their own tokens to them.

This is far fewer than what EOS had before launch; in EOS' case, dozens of organizations were vying for validator spaces before the launch. And now, there are hundreds trying to work their way into one of the top 21 spots.

The difference may be explained by another key strategic difference in how Tezos was deployed versus EOS.

EOS' ICO ran for about a year and carried out hundreds of short auctions. These auctions also put tokens into investors' hand immediately since EOS launched on ethereum first, using the ERC-20 token as a temporary coin before the EOS blockchain went live and tokens were moved there.

Tezos on the other hand only kept the token sale active for about two weeks and no tokens were handed over at that time.

Without that ebb and flow of token prices live on exchanges, it may have been more challenging for Tezos to build excitement among potential validators ahead of the protocol's launch.

Yet knowledgeable sources have told CoinDesk that more bakers will be announcing themselves after the betanet launch.

The rules of the blockchain

Just as EOS and Tezos have similar deployment processes, the reasoning behind their creation is also akin – they both set out to change blockchain governance.

Indeed, both protocols embrace a central vision that's about putting future decision-making in the hands of users so they can be responsible for building it out from the ground up. The architecture of the two protocols also allows for the rules of the software to change according to the needs of the community at the time.

In a talk at last year's Blockstack Summit, Arthur Breitman, the creator of the Tezos software, said:

"We have blockchains and blockchains are coordination technology, so let's actually use it for making governance decisions."

And while governance may not sound that exciting, with the rabid infighting among the different stakeholders of blockchain projects, many wonder if there's a better way to allow various politics to continue without splitting the communities behind the coins.

"Politics is like weather, it's going to happen no matter what," Breitman said in his talk.

And as such, the Beitmans (Arthur created Tezos with his wife Kathleen) set out to hard code that better way.

While it's unclear whether Tezos architecture will lead to less drama, the project's interest in taking the launch process slowly could mean that its launch is less fraught with confusion and misunderstanding than the EOS launch has proven.

EOS launched without finalizing the rules of its system – its "constitution" – and as such, several account freezes have happened (some with reason and others without) causing turbulence throughout the community and outside observers.

Contrary to EOS, Tezos will go live with some of the systems' rules in place, but also not nearly as many as what EOS plans to ratify. For example, the Tezos code does not have a statement about violence; instead, all the rules focus on enabling the community to decide on new features, better governance practices and tweaking basic parameters (such as the rate of inflation, rewards to validators, etc).

As such, Tezos focus on technical upgrades seems like a safer place to start, rather than trying to enforce the "good faith" of its users. Although, until the blockchain launches, the industry won't know, and many of Tezos investors and also the broader crypto community are waiting with baited breath.

"The long anticipated wait could end up being a blessing in disguise," James Sowers, a Tezos investor told CoinDesk, adding:

"The blockchain has evolved and they have had more time to learn from the mistakes of others."

The leader in blockchain news, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.

This is a paid-for submitted press release. CCN does not endorse, nor is responsible for any material included below and isn’t responsible for any damages or losses connected with any products or services mentioned in the press release. CCN urges readers to conduct their own research with due diligence into the company, product or service mentioned in the press release.

Anyone who follows crypto will remember September 4, 2017.

On September 4, 2017, the People’s Bank of China announced an immediate ban on ICOs, defining ICOs as an illegal funding activity.

Shortly after on September 15, Beijing announced closures of Bitcoin exchanges and required exchanges to pause all transactions by September 30. In November, all transactions of digital currency fiat trading pairs in China were terminated. Faced with these circumstances, exchange platforms announced that they will go overseas.

Many Chinese blockchain projects took a hard hit, including TRON, which has taken off since then.

2017 was an important year for crypto. For TRON, it was a year the company fought against all odds.

TRON was able to persevere despite what was perceived to be a bleak future for crypto. The company made adjustments from multiple fronts and was listed on renowned exchanges around the world, partnering with leading blockchain companies. TRON put special effort in building out the team with outstanding hires.

Blockchain technology research is the main driver behind blockchain projects cropping up, which makes it evident that a robust talent pool is a key factor for promoting growth and development. Justin Sun has emphasized the importance of talent on several occasions, saying,

“In the blockchain revolution, having the right talent is crucial to the development of blockchain technology. Obtaining diverse and innovative talent is the key to effectively resolving the variety of issues we may encounter along the way.”

TRON has a strong technical team, with outstanding members like Lucien Chen, former data expert from Tencent and Alibaba. Lucien joined the company in October 2017, bringing with him rich experience in big data, ad algorithms, DMP, BT, and CTR platforms. Chen has experience in developing system architecture one the hundred-million level and high-concurrency system architecture. After joining TRON, Chen’s work revolves around mainnet development and managing the global technical team, monitoring progress for various development projects. Chen is a great beginning to building a technical A-team.

In order to tap into the talent market, TRON posted many jobs in November 2017 and launched a referral campaign. Anyone who refers a candidate who is later onboard will receive a free iPhone X. This helped TRON get many great employees onboard.

During the mainnet launch livestream on May 31, 2018, Justin Sun provided on overview of the current TRON team:

Starting with less than twenty people, TRON quickly grew to a global team of 200, with an average of one new hire a day. Not only does the TRON team hails from mainstream Internet companies like Alibaba, Tencent, and Facebook, they have diverse backgrounds, covering seven countries distributed across four continents. Different languages, cultures, and geographies create a powerful synergy within the organization.

Sun also elaborated on his goals for the team:

We will continue to expand in Q3. By end of 2018, TRON will reach 500 headcount, with 1,000+ next year. Not only will we be the fastest growing blockchain team in the world, we will also be the largest and most diverse.

TRON tapped into the market again in mid-June 2018, hiring for talent in different categories, e.g. blockchain engineers, SDETs, overseas operations, finance, and editors. These new hires brought more diversity to the team.

June 25 will be TRON Independence Day. TRON will officially shed its identity was an ERC20 token and launch its mainnet. In an effort to support this event, the team thought of some ways to recruit from the community.

TRON announced “Call for Core Tronics” on various platforms, aimed at creating buzz for TRON Independence Day. This won’t be the last time that TRON will recruit from the Tronics community–more events are in the pipeline.

Looking back on TRON’s journey, it’s easy to see that the project is an ambitious one, aiming to become a leader in the industry. The reason TRON has been able to achieve so much in just 10 months is largely due to their ability to leverage opportunities for growth and a deep understanding of the blockchain industry.

This is a paid-for submitted press release. CCN does not endorse, nor is responsible for any material included below and isn’t responsible for any damages or losses connected with any products or services mentioned in the press release. CCN urges readers to conduct their own research with due diligence into the company, product or service mentioned in the press release.

Bitcoin Press Release: Sydney-based loyalty program EZToken has announced the launch of its loyalty reward program.

Monday, June 25, 2018, Sydney Australia – Australian blockchain company EZToken has announced the launch of its global cryptocurrency loyalty program (EZToken Rewards) in Australia. EZToken Rewards is currently the world’s biggest blockchain loyalty program, based on the size of its network. Members are rewarded with EZToken cryptocurrency rather than loyalty points for transacting with participating retailers.

Unlike loyalty points, the value of EZToken constantly changes as EZToken is actively traded on digital exchanges around the world. With real potential to become one of the most popular loyalty currencies in the world, members who earn EZToken can hold the digital currency, trade it at participating retailers or transfer to other EZToken Rewards members. EZTokens are also more efficient than traditional loyalty points, as they never expire.

Hoa Nguyen, Founder of EZToken Rewards had these words to say about the program

“I strongly believe cryptocurrencies will replace points and miles as the dominant loyalty currency around the world. Consumers want a loyalty program which provides them with value, flexibility on how they use that value and an assurance the value won’t be taken away from them via expiry. Cryptocurrencies are superior to loyalty points as they deliver to all three.”

Philip Shelper, Loyalty & Reward Co CEO also stated some of the benefits that the program can offer its users;

In late 2017, Loyalty & Reward Co ran a world-first blockchain loyalty research project at the University of NSW which proved rewarding members with a cryptocurrency rather than loyalty points leads to greater member engagement.

Adam Posner, CEO of The Point of Loyalty, has also provided consulting for the project, including insights from their annual Australian loyalty research study;

‘for love or money 2018’ on the opportunity for cryptocurrencies to be an alternative to loyalty points. Posner said, “Our latest ‘for love or money 2018′ research reveals that Australian loyalty program members have an appetite for cryptocurrency as a reward with 36% of members expressing an interest in being rewarded with cryptocurrency instead of points”.

EZToken Rewards have recently partnered with Surpass Business Solutions, accessing up to 3,000 new retailers in Australia to accelerate the growth of their merchant network.

EZToken Rewards generates value for members, retailers, and investors. With EZToken, members can shop at participating retailers and earn on their purchases, thereby generating more revenue for the retailers. As the popularity of EZToken increases, there’s more desire from members to acquire more, which in turn increases the demand for EZToken on trading exchanges, benefitting EZToken investors and all members holding EZToken.

EZToken is an ERC20 token hosted on the Ethereum blockchain platform. It is the reward currency for our blockchain loyalty program; EZToken Rewards. Ezpos Holding Pte. Ltd created 50 million EZToken and ran a four-round ICO in January 2018, selling 11.5m EZToken to raise over US$10m. Ezpos Holding has over 12,000 retailers in 19 countries currently using their EZPos Point of Sale system, and they are busy recruiting those retailers to participate in EZToken Rewards.

About EZToken Rewards

EZToken Rewards is a global rewards program which rewards members with EZToken for transacting with participating retailers, once they’ve joined the program. As the number of retailers and members within the program grows, the demand for EZToken increases. EZToken will play a central role in mainstreaming cryptocurrency adoption, by developing a large reward program base which acts as a middle layer, allowing for easy and rapid cryptocurrency transactions

The Point of Loyalty is a customer loyalty consultancy providing loyalty research and program strategy. They commission the annual loyalty research study ‘for love or money’, now in its 6th edition. Clients include Quest Hotels Apartments, Forever New Fashion, Bed, Bath ‘n Table, Advantage Pharmacy Group, Choice Hotel Group, RSEA Safety Stores, RSL VIC and BIG4 Holiday Parks.

About Surpass Business Solutions

Since 1995, Surpass has been in the business of selling computers and laptops and in 2007, extended its range of products adding Point of Sale Solutions and CCTV Cameras with the goal of providing feature rich, easy to use, robust, but still cost-efficient Point of Sale and CCTV solutions to those in the hospitality, retail and payment processing industries. With qualified and well-trained employees, combined with many years of experience, Surpass is constantly making innovative improvements to their software and hardware products, to provide the best sales and after sales service to corporate and retail clients

EZToken is the source of this content. Virtual currency is not legal tender, is not backed by the government, and accounts and value balances are not subject to consumer protections. This press release is for informational purposes only. The information does not constitute investment.

It is oddly refreshing to see all cryptocurrency markets in the green after another troubling weekend. With all currencies losing anywhere from 4% to 25% between Friday afternoon and Sunday evening, things were not looking good by any means. If the EOS price is any indication, those losses will be recovered fairly quickly.

EOS Price Rises Again

As is usually the case when all cryptocurrency markets lose a lot of value, the underlying reason is anything but obvious. This past weekend was no different in that regard, as all markets suffered from a massive setback. In the case of theEOS price, those losses were quite steep, but so are the gains in the past 24 hours.

To put this into perspective, the EOS price dropped from over $9.6 all the way to $7.1 over the course of the weekend. That is a rather steep decline, but it is evident all other markets suffered from similar momentum over the weekend. Thanks to a solid run overnight and early morning, the EOS price has returned to the $8.28 level.

This 13.33% gain in itself is very spectacular. Although both Bitcoin and Ethereum are recovering lost value as well, EOS successfully noted gains over both currencies. A 6.41% increase over Bitcoin and a 5.34% increase in the EOS/ETH ratio is quite intriguing to keep an eye on. All altcoins thrive when Bitcoin rises in value, a trend that has become quite apparent several years ago.

It would also seem as if there is another positive development affecting all cryptocurrencies as of right now. The EOStrading volumehas risen above $1.2bn again, which seems to indicate the prices may have bottomed out, for the time being. That doesn’t mean the EOS price won’t drop below $8 again in the coming days or weeks, albeit the buy support seems quite impressive, for the time being.

As one would expect from altcoin exchanges, OKEx is dominating in terms of EOS volume. It has a steep lead over Upbit and Hubi, which are followed by Bitfinex and Bithumb. For once, Binance isn’t in the top five, even though its USDT and BTC pairs are in sixth and seventh place. With three fiat currency pairs in the top five, there may be some interesting EOS price action ahead.

In the world of cryptocurrencies, there are never any guarantees. While the current EOS price momentum looks positive, things can always turn around at any given time. The volatility has spooked the market multiple times this year, and this latest dip is another warning shot across the bow. Even so, the rise of cryptocurrency will not diminish anytime soon, regardless of how the markets may evolve throughout 2018.